You scratch land clearing, we'll scratch your back

By Stephanie Peatling, Environment ReporterFebruary 24 2003

An end to land clearing of native vegetation, protection of western forest areas and a moratorium on the release of genetically modified food are at the top of the Greens' demands when they begin negotiations with the Labor Party for their preferences.

Rounding out their agenda is a call for a ban on political donations from property developers and an end to public funding for wealthy private schools, Greens MLC Ian Cohen said yesterday.

"Any movement in these areas will be viewed favourably by Greens local groups," he said.

The choice for his party was whether to direct its preferences to Labor or exhaust them, Mr Cohen said. No preferences would go to the Coalition.

"We have a number of marginals and the ALP would be very well advised to take note of our reasonable demands and act on them," Mr Cohen said. "The ALP should not expect preferences from the Greens across the board. In some seats the Greens may choose not to direct preferences to either major party."

Labor is likely to be eager for Greens preferences in marginal seats such as Maitland, Miranda, Bega, Clarence, Tweed, Keira and Drummoyne.

Environment groups welcomed the Greens announcement, saying that they were heartened to see core issues such as land clearing remaining at the top of the party's agenda.

A coalition of groups, including the Total Environment Centre, the Nature Conservation Council of NSW and the Wilderness Society, have already identified land clearing and the western woodlands as two of the most pressing environmental issues facing NSW.

Felicity Wade, from the Wilderness Society, said:

"Land clearing and the threat to the western woodlands are the biggest threat to biodiversity in NSW and those issues are very clearly on the Greens agenda."

Last week, the Premier, Bob Carr, released a discussion paper recommending the end of land clearing, but said he would not make any decision until after the election.

Also deferred until after the election is a decision on the western woodlands, known as the Brigalow Belt South.

Environmentalists want the 52,000-square-kilometre stretch of woodlands, running from the Queensland border to Dubbo, protected, while local communities say they will lose more jobs if this happens.